Congresswoman Maxine Waters (CA-43), ranking member of the Committee on Financial Services, recently announced that the Housing Authority of the County of Los Angeles (HACoLA) will receive a $738,000 federal grant to continue employing its “Resident Service Coordinators” who are integral in connecting public housing residents with much-needed supportive services and resident empowerment activities in the community.

Congresswoman Maxine Waters (CA-43), ranking member of the Committee on Financial Services, recently announced that the Housing Authority of the County of Los Angeles (HACoLA) will receive a $738,000 federal grant to continue employing its “Resident Service Coordinators” who are integral in connecting public housing residents with much-needed supportive services and resident empowerment activities in the community. Even more important, these coordinators link the county’s seniors to resources and services that will enable them to live independently and age-in-place.

“This program is critically important in helping to link residents with the types of services they need to improve their lives, including education and job training, computer and financial literacy services, and supportive services to help the elderly and disabled live independently and with dignity,” said Waters. “The residents of Los Angeles County need this type of support. And I’m working every day in Washington to ensure these types of programs are strengthened, improved and are reaching the people who need them most.”

Awarded by the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), the funds have been distributed as part of the Public Housing Resident Opportunities and Self Sufficiency – Service Coordinators (ROSS-SC) program. In 2011, HACoLA received a $720,000 ROSS-SC award, which has been used successfully to hire three Resident Service Coordinators, who have built partnerships with faith-based, business, educational, and community entities. The grant has allowed HACoLA to build capacity, save money and improve the lives of its residents. The funds awarded this week will continue this work, allowing HACoLA staff to build capacity and better coordinate and expand social and human services to all public housing residents.

The announcement comes as HUD unveiled nearly $36 million in awards to more than one hundred groups nationally, enabling vulnerable communities to continue or grow ROSS-SC programs.

Although this award is a positive, Waters also raised concerns with the reality that federal funding for the Public Housing ROSS program has declined overall in recent years, from $50 million in fiscal year 2012 (FY12) to around $36 million in FY14.

Waters added, “shrinking federal funding for this program means fewer public housing residents will have access to the types of services that ultimately help to increase their earnings and make progress toward economic independence and housing self-sufficiency. It is shortsighted to scale back funding for such an important resource that helps public housing residents achieve positive life outcomes.”

Waters has long advocated for full funding for HUD, specifically public housing, to ensure vulnerable populations across the nation have access to economic opportunity and housing that is safe, decent and affordable.

]]>jenniferb@lasentinel.net (Sentinel News Service)Template ModulesFri, 06 Mar 2015 06:02:59 +0000WIN TICKETS to the Aquarium of the Pacific!http://www.lasentinel.net/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=14445:win-tickets-to-the-aquarium-of-the-pacific&catid=129&Itemid=154
http://www.lasentinel.net/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=14445:win-tickets-to-the-aquarium-of-the-pacific&catid=129&Itemid=154WIN TICKETS TO THE AQUARIUM OF THE PACIFIC!

Mike Gipson, newly elected California Assemblymember for the 64th District was sworn-in at a public community ceremony at California State University Dominguez Hills on Saturday, Feb. 7.

“I am humbled to share this day with loyal supporters who elected me to this service,” said Gipson. “I am even more committed to tackling the quality of life issues in our district, including health, education, jobs, aging and public safety.”

Encourage by his energized supporters, Gipson states, “There’s a lot of work that must be done from the Wilmington Waterfront project, restoring Compton Community College, expanding sex offender community notification ordinances, increasing small businesses, to continuing the fight for fair wages and so much more. Our sleeves are rolled up and we are ready for the challenge!”

Approximately 500 people were on hand to witness the swearing-in. They were entertained by the Centennial High School Marching Band, Drummers and Drill Squad. Students from Bunche Middle School and California Cadet Corps recited the Pledge of Allegiance and Presentation of Colors.Juanita L. Watson and Ashleigh Rae sang, accompanied by keyboardist Rashad Howard.

Dignitary presenters included Danny Bakewell, Jr., (Los Angeles Sentinel, L.A. Watts Times and Kappa Alpha Kappa fraternity); and a collaboration of African elders from various countries in the Motherland bestowed a special blessing on the Assemblyman.

Rounding off the celebratory day, there was a free community ‘Praise and Worship’ Gospel Concert featuring choirs from local churches hosted by Pastor Frederick Howard at Southside Bethel Baptist Church, 10400 So. San Pedro St., L.A. 90003 organized by Psalmist Dwayne Johnson.

Mike Gipson, a former Carson City Councilmember was elected in November 2014 to represent the 64th Assembly District. The district includes the cities of Carson, Compton, Gardena, Harbor Gateway, Lynwood, North Long Beach, Rancho Dominguez, South Los Angeles, Torrance, Watts/Willowbrook and Wilmington.

This past weekend I attended the home going service of a dear friend Dr. Carol Spellen.I’ve had the honor and privilege of knowing Carol for close to a decade through another dear friend, sister and board member of Forgiving For Living, Dr. Lauren Walton.The service was simply beautiful, thought provoking and calming to one’s soul.What I took away from the day was her commitment to love and service through every aspect of her life.She exuded friendship and goodwill to others in both her professional and personal worlds.

Carol has been a friend to Forgiving For Living since she was introduced to the organization several years ago.I also learned that the kindness and concern she shared for us was just the tip of the iceberg of her love for so many.How could one woman love so much?She was simply amazing. During the service one of her brothers, Andrew, shared fond memories about his sister and a couple of things really stood out to me.Paraphrasing, he shared as he reflected on his sister, when you think of Carol you think of God and he went on to share that God is true, and God is kind, and God is love and if He is all of these things then shouldn’t we tell others about Him?Carol truly represented these attributes and you could see the goodness of God through her heart.The question is do we reflect the love of God through our service?

One thing I know to be true is that we all only have but a short time here on earth.The more I encounter those that are transitioning from this life to the next, I am reminded that only what we do for Christ will last.I also know that we must get out of ourselves and really think about others.As I visited Carol at the hospital during her last days, all I can think about is how she was concerned about the needs of others and how she could help.Her smile would embrace you as you entered her room and you were ushered over to sit next to her.She would take your hand and just look into your face and smile.When was the last time we took a moment to just sit with someone and listen to their heart?

What is true friendship?When we call someone a friend are we faithful?Oftentimes we get caught up in lip service and we say one thing while doing another.Yes, we live in a time where we are in such a hurry to run here and run there chasing one thing or another.If we are honest many of us are trying to get all we can, can all we get, and then just sit on the can.We need to open our can and share with others.We need to have our life be one of love and service.During the repass after the service, I was sitting at a table where a young man was sharing his experience with Carol.He said he was hired to do some handy work around her house and some kind of way it came out that he was experiencing a problem.Carol told him to come over, take a seat and talk to her.He went on to say, no I have to get my work done.She said that can wait, let’s work on the problem.Can we follow that example and help others work through a problem? You just might change a life.

Mahatma Gandhi once said, “The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others.”Carol through your faithfulness, commitment to love and service you were definitely found!

]]>AngelaHowardauthorlas@ronchambers.com (Angela Howard)Template ModulesFri, 30 Jan 2015 05:07:45 +0000Sustaining and Supporting Ferguson: Building a Culture and Community of Strugglehttp://www.lasentinel.net/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=13853:sustaining-and-supporting-ferguson-building-a-culture-and-community-of-struggle&catid=17&Itemid=154
http://www.lasentinel.net/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=13853:sustaining-and-supporting-ferguson-building-a-culture-and-community-of-struggle&catid=17&Itemid=154

Clearly, we have to be impressed and inspired by the sustained and seduction-resistant struggle waged by the people of Ferguson—who have not relented, or listened to the standard hype of “healing” while the oppressor is still inflicting pain, or regrettably renounced their rightful anger at the evil and injustice of police violence and other systemic forms and practices of oppression. Indeed, they rose up in righteous resistance over two months ago and still remain steadfast. The brutal killing of Michael Brown had cut the cord that held together a savage system of racist police violence, unjust taxation called ticketing, inadequate representation, and various other forms of injustice and disadvantage in virtually every area of life. And when the people heard the kill-shot, they took it as a compelling call to rise up in righteous resistance and they have not stopped, half-stepped, turned timidly around or relented since.

But we know that in order to sustain the struggle, strategic planning and constant support of the people are required, and thus, the question rises of how we achieve these objectives. This question finds its first answer in the respectful study of history and critical appreciation of our cultural legacy of struggle. The Seba Amenemhat, speaking to the relationship between history and struggle teaches us that, “Those who fight on the battlefield, unmindful or forgetful of the past will not succeed. For they are unaware of what they should know”. Indeed, history teaches us that in order to sustain and support a particular struggle, we must build a culture and community of struggle, link it to our larger national culture and community of struggle and build on its best ideas and practices and the lessons of history it has taught us.

To talk of a culture of struggle is to speak of a system of views, values and practices which perceive, pose and embrace struggle as a natural, normal and necessary way of life. Indeed, it is to understand and approach struggle as a moral imperative to bring and sustain good in the world as the Odu Ifa teaches us. For struggle is not simply against oppressors, but also a natural and indispensable way to move forward, achieve excellence, overcome obstacles, gain victory, create a new history and a new humanity and come into the fullness of ourselves.

Likewise, to talk of a community of struggle is to talk of a kinship also reaffirmed, cultivated and constructed in the process and practice of struggle. It is a solidarity built in the tempering and transformative fire and furnace of daily action, sacrifice, giving of oneself and forging new relationships in the interest of our people and the struggle. Therefore, a new awareness and audacity emerge in the struggle which generate an expansive sense of mission and of oneself as key to it and thus, a community brought into being by the profound commitment, persistent striving and relentless struggle of each of its self-conscious members. This is the meaning of Frantz Fanon’s statement that “Each man and woman brings the nation to life by his or her actions and is committed to ensure its triumph in their locality”.

This bringing of the nation to life, offers us several indispensable lessons on sustaining and supporting the struggle. The first is that the bringing of the nation to life is to liberate the nation, that is the people, so that they can live, love and create freely, without oppression, alienation, suffering and insecurity—in a word, without domination, deprivation and degradation. This, thus, also means that Ferguson and each and every other struggle in defense, affirmation and liberation of our people must be conceived and carried out as part of and a contribution to the overarching struggle we as an African people, a Black people, wage to be ourselves and free ourselves and build the just and good society and ultimately world we want and deserve to live in, beginning where we are.

Now, the building blocks for creating and sustaining a culture and community of struggle are many and varied. But five major areas of thought and practice, at a minimum, must be engaged and put into motion: ideology, structure, program, communications and resources. It is no accident that in the beginning was and is the word, for it is through the word we establish our identity, purpose and direction, introduce our immediate and overarching objectives and reasons we struggle, and offer our vision of a just and good society, and a dignity-affirming, rights-respecting and life-enhancing conception of the human person and the well-being and future of the world.

Our second need is to build an expansive network of local, national and international structures directed toward sustaining and supporting our initiatives, enriching our exchange, and building and linking our organizations and communities into local and national united fronts, in a word, solidarities born in and of righteous and relentless struggle. The urgency of a concrete program speaks to the need for clear objectives, a methodology of engaging our work and struggle and above all processes and objectives which call forth and cultivate thought and practice which enlighten and empower our people, satisfy their needs, expand their aspirations and enhance their capacity for transformative and victorious struggle.

The struggle requirement of communications is not only a question of the best use of technology. For communications is more than texting, tweeting, Facebooking and posting and any other forms of transmitting information. It is also and equally about building empathetic relations of solidarity and support. Indeed, what is required is a communicative practice that not only makes best use of technology, but also builds in-person relationships of struggle and solidarity in various other ways and prioritizes in-person participation in the struggle. For as the freedom fighters of Haiti, Palestine and Egypt and elsewhere demonstrate, there is no substitute for disciplined organizations and relations of solidarity; and no revolution yet has been made without a sustained confrontation in real space and time.

Finally, indispensable also is building and sustaining a network of resources: money, material and persons who are skilled, experienced, knowledgeable and highly motivated. And this requires intergenerational cooperation and that of other diverse identity groups within our people. For each person and group comes with its own resources, assets and aspirations, but it is on the common ground of our Blackness, our Africanness, and our righteous struggle that we stand. Indeed, we must always remember and respect the reality that our struggle is for the whole people, Black people, and must be waged together by them.

Thus, the life and future of the struggle must be rooted and sustained in supportive space among our people where they live, learn, work, worship, recreate and renew, cut and do their hair, hold events for their children and turn their hearts and minds every day. In this way, we are best able to honor the ancient African moral imperative of life and struggle: to know our past and honor it, engage the present and improve it; and imagine a whole new future and forge it in the most ethical, effective and expansive ways.

(GIN) – After failing to win further delays in a hearing of serious charges against him, President Uhuru Kenyatta announced he would temporarily step down as president of Kenya and face the court.

Five charges of crimes against humanity are linked to Kenyatta’s alleged involvement in funding and directing aspects of the violence that killed 1,300 people in the weeks following disputed 2007 elections. Gangs allegedly under his direction carried out rape and murder including the incineration of dozens of Kenyans who sought shelter in a church. Some victims were hacked to death and four were beheaded. More than 600,000 people were left homeless.

Prosecutors say Kenyatta met members of the Mungiki, a secretive Kikuyu gang, in order to organize retaliatory attacks in the Rift Valley towns of Nakuru and Naivasha, in response to the initial attacks on the Kikuyu community in the region.

Members of the Kikuyu ethnic group of Mr Kenyatta and Mr Kibaki were led to turn against other communities, butchering people using machetes, bows and arrows. He denied the accusation at a preliminary hearing at the ICC last September.

The case, set to begin Oct. 8, is before the International Criminal Court (ICC), based at The Hague, Netherlands. Deputy president William Ruto will fill the seat although he faces similar charges in a separate but linked case at the ICC. His trial has already begun.

With witnesses now backing out and requested documents being withheld by Kenyan officials, the case could collapse, say some experts. This would be a blow to a court that has handed down just two guilty verdicts, both to little known Congolese warlords, and one acquittal since inception in 2003.

Sudan’s President Omar al-Bashir, wanted for genocide, still travels to countries, particularly in Africa, that have ignored a warrant for his arrest, even when they are court signatories.

Kenyatta, in a speech to the nation, echoed complaints heard across the continent that the court is biased and persecutes Africans.

“My accusers both domestic and foreign have painted a nefarious image of most African leaders as embodiments of corruption and impunity,” he said, repeating his previous denials of the charges by saying his “conscience is clear”.

George Kegoro, head of the Kenyan chapter of the International Commission of Jurists, praised the president for following the rule of law. If Kenyatta had refused to go, he risked an international arrest warrant and international condemnation or economic sanctions against Kenya.

"The tragedy is,” wrote ‘ID1647404’ on the Guardian website, “that Kenyans really deserve to be able to vote for someone who presents them with ideology and policy choices, rather than just more exhortations that it is their tribe's 'turn to eat'…

]]>nicole.jones325@yahoo.com (Global Information Network)Template ModulesThu, 09 Oct 2014 06:32:08 +0000Single Mom Planet Looks Out For Mothers http://www.lasentinel.net/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=13371:single-mom-planet-looks-out-for-mothers&catid=17&Itemid=154
http://www.lasentinel.net/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=13371:single-mom-planet-looks-out-for-mothers&catid=17&Itemid=154Today, there are 12 million single parent families in the United States. Single mothers head more than 80% of those 12 million families.

When Neferteri Shepherd’s marriage crumbled after 5 years and the birth of her two children, her life was immediately turned upside down. Gone were the days when she could leave her kids with her husband while she ran her daily errands; now a quick trip to the grocery store required complex coordination. Confronted with the new responsibilities that came with single motherhood, Shepherd felt vulnerable and overwhelmed.

That’s when Shepherd began to think a little bit more about what she could gain through being a single mother rather than what she could lose. She found that she was joining a powerful, unique community of women who were also raising their children on their own. When Shepherd realized that she wanted to connect with and further empower this community of women, she decided to found her own non-profit, Single Mom Planet.

Once Shepherd launched Single Mom Planet in June of 2013, she delineated her primary goals immediately. She decided that Single Mom Planet would focus upon empowering mothers in five different areas: relationships, self-image and beauty, financial literacy, spirituality, and service.

Today, in order to facilitate that empowerment, moms who join Single Mom Planet are immediately partnered with mentors who specialize in the area in which the mom seeks empowerment. If a mother wants to buy her own home, Single Mom Planet will partner her with a real estate agent. If a mother wants to work on her relationships, she will be partnered with a relationship expert. Single Mom Planet also has a large contingent of mothers and employees who write articles on their website, singlemomplanet.com, in order to encourage other single mothers.

These articles are filled with advice regarding how to enjoy “Girls Night Out”, how to “Get Fit With Your Kids”, and how to live according to the “Three Pillars of Health”.

Single Mom Planet does not focus solely upon the well being of single mothers. Currently, there are more than 22 million children being raised within single parent families. Single Mom Planet strongly considers the influence that mothers can have upon their children’s outlook on life. Shepherd emphasizes that, “When you transform the mind of a single mother and show her a brighter future, then her life will transform. And her children will transform as well. She will be able to bring more to the future of her children. Single mothers often take on this abandonment persona and they often manifest that feeling in their child. As a mom, maybe you possess certain flaws, but you don’t want your child to be limited by those same flaws”.

More than a year ago, Shepherd and the rest of her staff organized their first successful Single Mom Planet event, a brunch that allowed single parent families to unite and share their stories. “It makes me wanna cry right now just thinking about the brunch”, Shepherd recalls. “We had a 16-year-old girl talking about how she’s never seen her father. It’s so moving because you see how much hurt they have in their heart”.

The brunch was only the first in a series of events that Single Mom Planet has organized with the intention of healing single mothers along with their children.This October, Single Mom Planet is organizing a jazz festival in order to celebrate and honor single mothers and their families.

Above all, Single Mom Planet is a place where women can go to reclaim their lives. “Just know that you are so powerful”, Shepherd stresses. “Don’t let what life has shown you thus far take away your power. Don’t live in the past, move forward. Your kids are watching everything you do and everything you say. They love mama, there’s nobody like mama. We raise leaders, we raise people who change the world. What you do is not in vain. And you’re not alone. Single Mom Planet is here.”

“Having [my son] saved my life,” young father Jovan told the Sentinel. “As he grows up I just want it to be safe for him. I want him to be safe and get an education.” (photo by Jennifer Bihm)

Local resident Oscar Casanova looks carefree enough. Wearing basketball shorts and an easy smile, going for an afternoon jog seems like one of those small life details he takes for granted. But taking things for granted is something he never does anymore since becoming a father, he said.

“I had to start thinking responsibly, something I wasn’t doing before,” said Casanova.

“I was thinking of myself, but now everything is about him. Every move I make is about him…”

Having a child, biological or otherwise is a life changing event. For a mother, it will mean changes to her schedule, her body perhaps or even her career choices. For a father, particularly an African American father, changes often involve their entire personality.

The Sentinel had the opportunity recently, to talk to fathers in the community. They talked about how their life changed upon becoming dads and the things they are aiming to teach their children. Most importantly perhaps, they talked about the hopes and dreams they have for their children as they become adults.

“I teach [my son] the value of life,” said Oscar Casanova who is originally from Nicaragua and said he wants to make sure his son takes advantage of opportunities here in the United States that he didn’t have in his home country. (photo by Jennifer Bihm)

“I’m from Nicaragua [so] I teach him that being born in this country gives him an opportunity to be the best he can be and not to take it for granted. Where I was born there is not a lot of opportunity. So, I teach him, when you come out of high school, you go on. And you be the person you want to be. You set a goal and you go for it.”

Casanova’s sentiments seem to ring true among the other dads, who graciously took the time out to give the Sentinel their take on what fatherhood means.

“[Fatherhood] made me do a total 360,” said Anteus Clark, father of four.

“Before I had my first daughter, who is eight now, I was heavily in the streets. I was a menace to society. After her, it wasn’t about me anymore. [I started to realize] my actions could harm her whether I was around or not. It gave me a better sense of responsibility and purpose. My purpose became taking care of her and making sure that her life is better and making sure she doesn’t go through the struggles that I went through. It changed me from a boy to a man.”

As a man, Clark said, teaching his children life lessons is his first priority.

“I try to teach my children the things that aren’t taught anymore as far as parenting goes,” he said.

“It’s not about the Jordans you wear or the Gucci shirts, or how much money… [they have to have] character, honor, self respect and self awareness.

“I don’t want them to just have a formal education. I want them to know everything. I teach them that whatever they contribute to their environment, that’s what it will become. Even now, while they’re little, I show them that the way they carry themselves and the way they act, other kids follow them.

So, [for instance] if you can follow instructions and do your work, you could influence the next kid to do the same thing…”

Lonnie Smith, father of two, also said that being a father made him a man.

“The things that I thought were real to me before I had kids, weren’t really what I thought they were,” said Smith.

“By the time I had my first child, I became more responsible. Before I had my daughter, I had this… it’s almost like this don’t give a f**k attitude. Once you have a child, you have to be there for them. I was a party guy. Thursday through Sunday, I was in the streets.

“When I had my daughter, I realized that I had to start focusing more on her needs and raising her. The sh*t that I thought I was really into, I really wasn’t into. It was my time to become a real man.”

“Being a father isn’t easy,” said Antonio Jenkins, father of two teenage sons.

“We hope that we have instilled enough rules that we have installed good enough morals… good things, dignity, class respect… things that help them survive society and be responsible young adults,” said Jenkins.

“I hope I’ve given them enough butt whoopins ( he laughs) that they remember as adults, that doing wrong doesn’t pay off.

“We live in world today where they charge young kids, teenagers, as adults when mentally they are still children and when they don’t fully understand the significance of the time they can get for committing certain crimes. I hope that I do enough. My kids are still young teenagers ( 13 and 14 years old) so, I still have time to stay on them. First of all I want to lead by example with my own actions, by trying to work everyday and be a provider. It’s a lot but you have to stick to it…”

Other dads, like Lemiert Park store owners “Shaq” and “Sika” talked about how having children saved them and how it gave them a tremendous sense of pride.

“I felt empowered. I never felt that kind of power,” Shaq said of the day his son was born.

“I saw what [my wife and I created and at first it scared me…”

“I was always very proud of him. To this very day (his son is an adult now) I am proud of that child that I was proud of back then… my proudest moment is my son.”

For his part, young father Jovan also said becoming a father saved his life and how in turn he wants to save his son’s life.

“I don’t do the bad things I used to do. I can’t do them,” he said.

“As he grows up I just want it to be safe for him. I want him to be safe and get an education…”

The California Wellness Foundation (TCWF) recently announced the appointment of their first African American Woman President & CEO Judy Belk effective April 7.

“Belk is a seasoned leader with more than 25 years of senior management experience in the philanthropic, government, nonprofit and corporate sectors,” they said.

“She currently serves as the vice president of Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors (RPA) and has played a pivotal role in building it into one of the nation’s largest independent nonprofit advisory firms.”

]]>NicoleWilliamsauthorlas@ronchambers.com (Sentinel News Service generalinfo@lasentinel.net )Template ModulesThu, 06 Mar 2014 21:59:54 +0000CORA JACKSON FOSSETT, CITY OF L.A. PUBLIC AFFAIRS DIRECTOR RETIRES FROM CITY SERVICE AND REFLECTS ON A WONDERFUL CAREERhttp://www.lasentinel.net/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=12495:cora-jackson-fossett-city-of-l-a-public-affairs-director-retires-from-city-service-and-reflects-on-a-wonderful-career&catid=17&Itemid=154
http://www.lasentinel.net/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=12495:cora-jackson-fossett-city-of-l-a-public-affairs-director-retires-from-city-service-and-reflects-on-a-wonderful-career&catid=17&Itemid=154

Thirty-six years of civil service highlight Cora Jackson Fossett’s career as she makes plans to pursue her passion for books and reading through the audio publishing industry as well as community service. In retirement, her desire is to begin narrating audio books and to support literacy and reading at public libraries.

“I will really miss being able to help people,” said Jackson Fossett. “People can and do get lost when looking to government for answers, so there has always been a sense of satisfaction for me in helping residents get to the right people or having their concerns and issues resolved.”

Later serving as the Public Affairs Director for the City of Los Angeles Department of Public Works, Jackson Fossett learned at a very early age from her mother, Georgia Francis Meeks, to write press releases for their church in Gary, Indiana. In addition to her mother, she credits four “amazing women” who provided her with inspiration and guidance in the field of public affairs: former Board of Public Works Commissioner, Valerie Lynne Shaw; former Department of Transportation General Manager, Rita Robinson; former Operation Clean Sweep and Office of Community Beautification Director, Delphia Jones and L.A. Sentinel Executive, Brenda Marsh-Mitchell.

“I gained so much from interacting with, watching and learning from these very special people,” said Jackson Fossett while reminiscing about her career. “I truly thank these wonderful women for supporting and strengthening my belief in serving the people. And it’s because of their dedication as well as the commitment of many others, my career has been devoted to government being accountable, transparent and holding true to the public’s interest.”

She thanked the city's leadership and stressed her accomplishments were a reflection of many team efforts and those of the people she worked with every day. “The support I received throughout my career has made my job easier, and the best moments were personally rewarding for the shared experiences in making a difference for city residents.”

Jackson Fossett earned a bachelor’s degree at Indiana University and completed graduate courses at Columbia College in Chicago. She also holds certificates in marketing management and standardized emergency management. She began her civil service career in 1978 as a mail handler and newsletter editor at the U.S. Postal Service in Gary, Indiana and as a public affairs specialist in Chicago, Illinois and Long Beach, California.

In 1990, she was hired by Los Angeles World Airports as a public relations specialist for the Los Angeles International Airport. Her most memorable moments at LAX include meeting Nelson Mandela as an awardee of the Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts to dismantle apartheid in South Africa before he was elected its first black president, and meeting former U.S. President Bill Clinton. She said, “Both men were gracious and kind, so down-to-earth and unpretentious.”

In 1999, Jackson Fossett was promoted to the City of Los Angeles Department of Public Works to serve as the director of the department’s Public Affairs Office, where she managed the Board of Public Works’ community and media relations programs. Under her leadership, the Public Affairs Office received nine industry awards for its outstanding, creative and highly effective communications programs. In addition, she received five Emmy nominations for producing programs about public works activities and operations.

Jackson Fossett served as vice president of the board of directors of the Los Angeles Professional Managers Association, the bargaining unit representing the city’s top level employees and was president from 2006 to 2012 of the Los Angeles Association of Black Personnel, the official representative for city employees of African American heritage.

Jackson Fossett was featured in the publication, “Who’s Who in Black Los Angeles” for three consecutive years. In 2008, she was recognized by the Los Angeles Business Journal as one of L.A.’s most successful women, and in 2009, she was inducted into the Hall of Fame as a honoree of the National Association of University Women.

In 2010, Jackson-Fossett was elected to the board of directors of the American Public Works Association as director of Public Works Management and Leadership. She is the first African American woman to serve on the national board of the 28,000 member organization.

A member of Brookins Community A.M.E. Church, Jackson Fossett serves as a Sunday School teacher, chairs the public relations committee, and is a member of the Steward Board. In addition, she is the religion editor for the Los Angeles Sentinel newspaper, the largest African American weekly on the west coast, and a member of the National Association of Religion Writers. She is married to Kelvin Fossett and mother to one son, David.

A welcome reception is planned on Sunday, January 26, at 1 p.m., for the Rev. Willie L. McDaniel, the new pastor of Curry Temple C.M.E. Church, 322 West Rosecrans Avenue in Compton.

Ordained in 1984 as an elder, Pastor McDaniel has led several C.M.E. parishes including Carter Temple in Dallas, TX; Central Metropolitan in Jacksonville, FL; and St. Stephen in Fairfield, CA.Locally, he served as pastor at Amos Temple in Riverside, Warren Chapel in San Pedro, and St. Mark in Los Angeles.

Pastor McDaniel earned a Bachelor’s degree at Southern University, Master’s degree at CSU – Dominguez and completed doctoral studies at Trinity Theological Seminary.Among his awards and honors are Northern California Pastor of the Year in 2002 and Southern California Pastor of the Year in 1996.

A member of the Public Administrator’s Honor Society, Pastor McDaniel worked more than 20 years as a municipal executive in Los Angeles, San Francisco and Dallas.He is married to Mrs. Patricia Rowe McDaniel and they are the parents of two adult children.

For information on the reception, call Dorothy McMillan at (310) 631-5265.

Hundreds of people paying respects to Martin Luther King at his memorial in Washington, D.C. (AFRO Photo)

Crowd Covers National Mall for 50th Anniversary of 1963 March

At the 50th anniversary of the 1963 March on Washington, a host of dignitaries lined the stage situated at the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. Under clear blue skies, leaders discussed why they’re still marching a half century later.

Martin Luther King Jr. III took the stage roughly at 12:43 pm. In a tone that eerily mirrored his father’s, he discussed how America needs a new plan to provide jobs in the wake of a struggling economy.

He also called for the end of senseless violence around the country.

“My father [Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.] sought the blood of the community. No more Newtowns, no more Columbines and no more violence in Chicago,” he said. “We need to keep on walking, keep on talking and keep on educating.”

Shortly thereafter, National Action Network (NAN) leader Al Sharpton took the stage and opened by discussing the struggles Black participants in the ’63 march faced just to make it to the Nation’s Capital.

“Fifty years ago, some came to Washington and rode on the back of the bus. Some couldn’t stay in hotel rooms and had to sleep in cars,” he said.

He later urged generations young and old to come together and fight for injustices and social ills around the nation.

Second Baptist Church presents ‘Jazzy Fryday’ featuring the John Scott Trio on July 19 at 7 p.m., at 2412 Griffith Avenue in Los Angeles, said Pastor William S. Epps. The $15 donation includes fish dinner and live entertainment. For information, call Helen Starks at (323) 216-0230 or the church office at (213) 748-0318.

Price Chapel A.M.E. Church hosts an American Red Cross Blood Drive on July 21 at 9:30 a.m., at 4000 West Slauson Avenue in Los Angeles, said Pastor Cedric Alexander. To register, call (323) 296-2406.

New Millennium Church worships on July 21 at 9:45 a.m., at the A-MAN International Science Center Building, 101 South La Brea Avenue in Inglewood, said Pastor Larry W. Foy who will preach on ‘What is Church?’

Living Praise Christian Center opens a new campus on July 21 at 10 a.m., at Mint Canyon Elementary School, 16400 Sierra Highway in Canyon Country, said Pastors Fred and Linda G. Hodge. For details, call (818) 709-5722 or visit livingpraisechurch.org.

Southern Missionary Baptist Church holds its Deacons Ordination Service on July 21 at 5 p.m., said Pastor Xavier L. Thompson.The guest preacher will be Bishop William Dillard of Second Baptist Church, Inc., in Monrovia. Call (323) 731-2703 for information.

Holman United Methodist Church celebrates its 68th Anniversary July 26-28 at 3320 West Adams Boulevard in Los Angeles, said Pastor Kelvin Sauls. Events include ╘Concert Under The Stars╒ on July 26 at 6:30 p.m., Youth Explosion IV on July 27 at 10 a.m., and worship services on July 28 at 8 a.m. and 11 a.m.For information, call (323) 731-7285.

Congregational Church of Christian Fellowship sponsors a Electronics (E Waste) RecyclingCollection on July 27 at 9 a.m., at 2085 South Hobart Boulevard in Los Angeles, said Pastor James K. McKnight. Working or non-working computer equipment, phones, sound equipment, power tools, scanners, TVs and small appliances will be accepted. For details, email cccfoffice@cccf-ucc.org.

Grant A.M.E. Church hosts Men in Praise on July 28 at 3 p.m., at 1129 Alamitos Avenue in Long Beach, said Pastor Michael Eagle.Featured are the Mar-Keys, Men of Grant, House of Refuge Men's Choir, Men of the Rock of Long Beach and free face painting for children.

In this publicity image released by NBC, celebrity chef Paula Deen appears on NBC News' "Today" show, wednesday, June 26, 2013 in New York. Deen dissolved into tears during a "Today" show interview Wednesday about her admission that she used a racial slur in the past. The celebrity chef, who had backed out of a "Today" interview last Friday, said she was not a racist and was heartbroken by the controversy that began with her own deposition in a lawsuit. Deen has been dropped by the Food Network and as a celebrity endorser by Smithfield Foods. (AP Photo/NBC, Peter Kramer)

NEW YORK (AP) — Paula Deen was dropped by Wal-Mart and her name was stripped from four buffet restaurants on Wednesday, hours after she went on television and tearfully defended herself amid the mounting fallout over her admission of using a racial slur.

The story has become both a day-by-day struggle by a successful businesswoman to keep her career afloat and an object lesson on the level of tolerance and forgiveness in society for being caught making an insensitive remark.

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. said Wednesday that it ended its relationship with Deen and will not place "any new orders beyond what's already committed."

Caesars Entertainment Corp. said it had been "mutually decided" with Deen to remove her name from its restaurants in Joliet, Ill.; Tunica, Miss.; Cherokee, N.C.; and Elizabeth, Ind.

At the same time, Deen's representatives released letters of support from nine companies that do business with the chef and promised to continue. There's evidence that a backlash is growing against the Food Network, which tersely announced last Friday that it was cutting ties with one of its stars.

The Rev. Jesse Jackson said Deen had called him and he agreed to help her, saying she shouldn't become a sacrificial lamb over the issue of racial intolerance.

"What she did was wrong, but she can change," Jackson said.

During a deposition in a discrimination lawsuit filed by an ex-employee, the chef, who specializes in Southern comfort food, admitted to using the N-word in the past. The lawsuit also accuses Deen of using the slur when planning her brother's 2007 wedding, saying she wanted black servers in white coats, shorts and bow ties for a "Southern plantation-style wedding."

Deen said she didn't recall using the word "plantation" and denied using the N-word to describe waiters. She said she quickly dismissed the idea of having all black servers.

Deen told Matt Lauer on "Today" on Wednesday that she could only recall using the N-word once. She said she remembered using it when retelling a story about when she was held at gunpoint by a robber who was black while working as a bank teller in the 1980s in Georgia.

In the deposition, she also said she may also have used the slur when recalling conversations between black employees at her restaurants. Asked in the deposition if she had used the word more than once, she said, "I'm sure I have, but it's been a very long time."

Her "Today" show appearance was a do-over from last Friday, when Deen didn't show up for a promised and promoted interview. Deen told Lauer she had been overwhelmed last week. She said she was heartbroken by the controversy and she wasn't a racist.

"I've had to hold friends in my arms while they've sobbed because they know what's been said about me is not true and I'm having to comfort them," she said.

Looking distressed and with her voice breaking, Deen said if there was someone in the audience who had never said something they wished they could take back, "please pick up that stone and throw it as hard at my head so it kills me. I want to meet you. I want to meet you." It's an apparent reference to the Biblical passage about whether a woman guilty of adultery should be stoned: "Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her."

"I is what I is and I'm not changing," Deen said. "There's someone evil out there that saw what I worked for and wanted it."

An uncomfortable Lauer tried to end the interview, but Deen repeated that anyone who hasn't sinned should attack her.

Asked by Lauer whether she had any doubt that blacks consider use of the N-word offensive, Deen said: "I don't know, Matt. I have asked myself that so many times, because it is so distressing to go into my kitchen and hear" what some young people are telling each other.

Deen said she appreciated fans who have expressed anger at the Food Network for dropping her, but said she didn't support a boycott of the network. Through social media, the network has been attacked by people who said executives there acted in haste to get rid of Deen.

Save for the brief announcement late Friday that it wasn't renewing Deen's contract, Food Network executives have refused to discuss the case publicly, or say whether the network plans to address Deen's fans. There have been online reports that the Food Network removed Deen's programs from the air as early as Saturday; the network wouldn't speak about what it has or hasn't put on the air.

Starting last weekend, there has been a steady erosion of support for the network. The YouGov Brandindex, a measurement of how consumers perceive a particular company or product, said the Food Network's score — which had been generally positive — had dropped by 82 percent in a week. The network has a negative image in the South and West, spokesman Drew Kerr said.

Deen's case has also attracted some odd bedfellows. Conservative commentator Glenn Beck said the network has "contributed to the growing un-American atmosphere of fear and silence. Hello, Joseph McCarthy."

Meanwhile, liberal HBO host Bill Maher also said Deen shouldn't lose her show. "It's a wrong word, she's wrong to use it," he said. "But do we really have to make people go away?"

The Food Channel, a food marketing agency based in Springfield, Mo., said it has been flooded with angry messages from people mistaking the company for the Food Network. There have been so many that the agency posted a message to Deen on its website that it would be happy to work with her if possible.

Among the companies expressing support for her via her representatives was Club Marketing Services in Bentonville, Ark., which helps companies sell products at Wal-Mart, and Epicurean Butter.

“But by an equality, that now at this time your abundance may be a supply for their want, that their abundance also may be a supply for your want; that there may be equality.”2 Corinthians 8:14.

SPECIAL TO THE L.A. SENTINEL:Failing to offer a realistic account of the racial dynamics of Southern California’s employment sector, Eric Kyle Henry Lee’s article, ‘Bilingual Job Qualifications – Are Blacks Being Left Out’ (L.A. Sentinel, 01/31/13), dared to opine that Black America’s attitude toward a bilingual job requirement that increasingly excludes them from an already biased job market, ought to be a passive one.Lee’s suggestion that African Americans suppress their employment expectations to make room for an influx of Hispanics is unnecessarily presumptive because no fair-minded person would begrudge the business owner’s effort to employ a diverse workforce so long as his own heritage isn’t subjugated in the process.

The trend that has many Southern California employers staffing workforces comprised entirely of Spanish speaking bilinguals, even though America’s typical consumer remains monolingual and English speaking, begs the question, ‘Why the need for an exclusively bilingual workforce?’When legitimately needed, surely a staff thirty, forty, or even fifty-percent bilingual would suffice, especially when much of the race driving today’s alleged bilingual need are themselves fluent in English.

Many see the emerging bilingual employment campaign as part of a greater movement by a few Mexicans who feel theirs is an inherent right to be ushered to the front of every American socioeconomic line on which they stand; and that judging themselves as finally having sufficient numbers to enforce long-held beliefs about whose land Southern California really is, they’re seeking to bypass a seat at America’s table of equality in favor of possession of the entire table and all the chairs.

As one who’s sworn to uphold this nation’s civil rights laws, I have a unique perch from which to view SoCal’s shifting ethnic paradigm and its affect on the employment dynamic.Adding sufficient bilinguals of multiple ethnicities to better serve a multi-ethnic customer base is one thing.Purposely employing a single ethnicity to the exclusion of all others is something else again.And considering today’s open hostility by some Mexicans toward the presence of African Americans (look no further than the front page of this Sentinel edition, as well as other publications, to read about the rise in violent hate crimes by Mexicans against Blacks) and the hubris of some Mexicans who think U.S. immigration law shouldn’t apply to them, and Lee’s position that all Hispanics willingly desire lawful assimilation into American culture becomes a bit tenuous.

In one of a rising number of cases where Hispanics are fast usurping the discriminatory seat of privilege long held by Caucasians, I met a Black woman who told of a Mexican co-worker menacingly expressing his anger at having to pay five-hundred dollars for a ‘Green Card’ that would permit him to legally remain in the U.S.The undocumented worker boasted that if he had to pay to stay in America, every Black person should have to do likewise.When asked if she spoke to a manager, the lady responded, “What good would it have done?I was the only Black in the company.Except for a few Caucasians everyone was Hispanic, and they made it clear they didn’t like me.”Not surprisingly, the Black woman was soon labeled a ‘troublemaker’ and fired.

Considering the horrors of past discrimination jointly overcome by America’s Black and Hispanic collective, contemporary Latin and African Americans cannot allow a few rotten apples to ruin the whole bunch via one race’s attempt to invoke some imaginary sense of ethnic superiority over the other.And to those who desire a new racial pecking order in America, remember that African Americans have in times past won many battles for racial equality and that if necessary, we will do it again!But why in God’s name should we have to?

Derek Smith is a freelance Christian author, speaker, and columnist.He’s also a federal civil rights investigator.Comments are welcome, and can be sent to divine.connection@yahoo.com.

Congresswoman Janice Hahn (CA-44) attended Obama's recent State of the Union address with Reverend E. Winford Bell, a Los Angeles faith-based leader who has been affected by gun violence. Bell serves as senior pastor of the Mt. Olive 2nd Missionary Baptist Church in Los Angeles, California. His son was shot during a drive-by shooting in 2009. This tragic incident led him to establish the Silver Lining of Hope, a faith-based anti-violence community organization in Watts.

“It is an honor to have Reverend Bell join me this evening at the State of the Union. It is important that Members of Congress see the people at the heart of this debate and hear their stories,” said Hahn. “I commend his steadfast commitment and leadership to this very important issue that has plagued our neighborhoods for far too long. He has a story that is all too common in the communities I represent.”

Silver Lining of Hope is the product of a collaboration between churches from communities in Inglewood, Compton and Watts, where gun violence is pervasive and tied to the prevalence of gang activity. The organization provides an immediate resource for police when a crime is committed in the community and a support system for local families affected by gun violence.

“It is an honor and privilege to join Congresswoman Hahn this evening at the State of the Union,” said Bell. “Now more than ever, we must come together as a community and a nation to stop this senseless gun violence that is taking the lives of our babies. We’ve been to too many funerals and witnessed too much heartache.”

In the afternoon on Tuesday February 12, Hahn and Bell spoke at a Mayors Against Illegal Guns press conference with other members of Congress and their State of the Union guests who have been affected by gun violence.

“We have the chance to talk about this important issue today, but people in my communities have been waiting for this conversation for decades,” added Hahn.

Congresswoman Hahn and Reverend Bell donned Silver Lining of Hope’s symbol-- a black and silver ribbon that represents the black cloud of crime that plagues inner-city communities with a silver lining that represents hope.

The savage and senseless massacre of 26 people, 20 children and 6 adults, at an elementary school in Connecticut has once again forced the country to face a random rage and murderous rampage which allows no exemption for innocence of age, non-involvement or accidental presence. Indeed, it extends no respect to person or place, striking with cold-blooded calculation at movies, malls, religious sanctuaries and schools, and in big cities, small towns, so-called nice neighborhoods and mean streets, offering security and peace of mind to no one. But no matter how often it happens, it is a shocking and shattering experience, and a reminder of the continuing and problematic presence of violence as both an inadequately discussed legacy and continuing life-experience in this country and in its conception of overwhelming armed power as a personal and national existential need.

Perhaps, the tragedy is still too recent and the grief still too great for us, in our search for answers, to focus on anything except controlling access to the instruments of death and evil used in this and prior massacres of similar savagery and senselessness. But eventually, it would be good to go beyond the exclusive focus on gun control and reflect on the complex context in which there is a worshipful attitude toward guns and weapons of various kinds by a majority of Americans and an associated psychology of dominance. We can blame this deep attachment on the NRA, its lobbyists and weak-willed and wobbly-kneed legislators, but polls consistently show Americans unwilling to give up key ground on the possession and use of guns. Thus, in the end, after appropriate mourning and memorials-wild west, gun fighter, stand your ground and vigilante conversations and conduct reemerge.

Moreover, the tendency is to isolate the issue and see it as another case of a deranged killer, and search for signs of personal psychosis rather than social disorder. For we cannot easily come to terms with socially-rooted conditions in which the gun is not simply the instrument of choice for mass murderers in solving problems and expressing lethal rage, but is also seen as vital to the American way of life, and prized as the ultimate protection against the ever-present adversary and enemy.

But if we are honest with ourselves and each other, we know that the problem is not just the gun or a lone killer gone wild, but also the social context in which these boys and men, overwhelmingly White, emerge to kill their mothers, fathers and other family members, as well as children, neighbors and unknown persons. These are sons and brothers who come into being in a culture of dominance in which things and lives are taken as a matter of course for the White powerful at home and abroad. Those vulnerable by race, class, sex and other disadvantages and disabilities, are subject to violence of various kinds on a regular basis, but it is not considered similarly noteworthy, even though they are often children, also innocent and accidentally present.

So, no matter what madness we attribute to these troubled killers, there is also something to say about the lessons they learn from society itself about dominance and killing without conscience or concern for others and how these lessons and values are embraced, even by some members of the oppressed. Surely, there are lessons learned from the news, movies, TV, casual conversations and even video games about dominance-killing, war, official assassinations, justified torture, drone kills and collateral human damage, indiscriminate bombing, a law unto ourselves, might as right, kill counts, and blood rituals of celebration after kills of various kinds and by various self-justifying names like justice done, pre-emptive defense, anti-terrorism, and victory over a long-list of racial, religious and political enemies.

If we compare the prevalence of this war, killing and dominance talk and practice to conversations and practice concerning peace, conflict resolution, mutual respect and human solidarity, it is clear where the center of gravity and commitment is. And that is why even after tragedies, great and small; we cannot really give up the worshipful relationship with weapons, not just guns, but all the other technological weapons of war that give the country a false and inflated sense of its invincibility, and an imagined right to dominate and impose its will on the world. Yes, we need gun control, but there are still the issues of how we relate to the gun and to each other, how we define friends and enemies, and view and treat the vulnerable here and abroad. And ultimately, it's about creating a culture that respects the sacredness of human life, the rights and dignity of the human person, and demonstrates an ethic of care and responsibility for each and all of our children and us.

Indeed, as President Obama stated, our concern for our children and by extension for ourselves, must be inclusive. For "Whether it's an elementary school in Newton, or a shopping mall in Oregon, or a temple in Wisconsin or a movie theatre in Aurora or a street corner in Chicago-these neighborhoods are our neighborhoods and these children are our children." And if we are not to practice a selective morality, we must also mourn the deaths and work to protect the lives of children and people everywhere. And I think especially of the children and people of Congo and elsewhere in Africa, Haiti, Palestine, Pakistan, Iraq, Afghanistan, and Syria, plagued by brutal and gruesome wars fostered from within and without and the victims of human trafficking and oppression everywhere.

In this end-of-the-year season when we talk, pray and sing of peace, let us wish for them as we do for each other, peace, security and lives of dignity, decency and well-being. Let us also try to move beyond narrow notions of what is needed to heal, repair and remake the good society and world we all want and deserve to live in. And let us put at its center, the work and practice of peace, a peace, as Dr. Martin Luther King says, that "it's not simply the absence of tension, but also the presence of justice." It is a giving of persons and peoples their due, their respect as possessors of dignity and divinity, with a right to the shared good and goods of the world. And it is this justice-grounded, dignity-affirming and world-encompassing peace that our ancestors defined and embraced in the Husia, saying "exceedingly good is the practice of peace and there is no blame in peace for those who practice it."

The president put his plan on the table. Republican Speaker John Boehner rejected it out of hand. And then... nothing. Republicans refused to make a counteroffer.

They are apparently waiting for the president to make another offer. Obama made that mistake before and got nothing in return. He is not likely to make the same mistake again.

Republicans are demanding that to get any increase in revenue to bring down deficits, Democrats have to agree to cut Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid.

They have not said how much they want cut, but Senate leader Mitch McConnell suggested raising the eligibility age for Medicare by two years, and changing the cost-of-living index for Social Security so the benefits lose value over time. Republicans have also voted for a budget in the House that would turn Medicaid into a block grant to the states and dramatically cut the federal payment. These changes, we are told, are part of a "balanced" agreement.

Why is it "balanced" to cut programs for the most vulnerable Americans in exchange for closing some loopholes in the tax code? (Republicans still object to raising tax rates on the rich. They might agree to more revenue, but only by going after tax deductions).

We have the most extreme inequality since the Gilded Age. The richest 1 percent have as much wealth as 90 percent of Americans. Top tax rates have been coming down since Reagan.

On the other hand, Social Security is the nation's most successful poverty program. It puts a floor under seniors at the end of a long life of work that ensures they can live out their days with a minimum of security. Medicaid helps the poor, the disabled and most of us in the last months of life. Older workers will find it extremely expensive to get health care at 65 and 66. These are cuts that will endanger lives, not whether a rich person can afford a bigger boat or a larger beach house.

This is a classic case of what we used to call "ham-and-egg justice." The chicken and the sow are asked to contribute to breakfast. The hen lays an egg and keeps on moving. But the sow is forced to give up a leg. That isn't balanced, and it isn't just.

Underneath these high-profile issues are real concerns that are getting too little attention.

First, pay attention to what it is not on the table. More than 20 million people are still in need of full-time work. The president has asked for $50 billion for an infrastructure bank to help rebuild America. Republicans treat this as a joke - when, in fact, we need a much bigger plan to rebuild this country and put people to work. If deficit reduction slows the economy, we will end up with higher unemployment and spreading misery.

Second, pay attention to what the lobbies are pushing in the back rooms. For example, a group of CEOs has joined in a campaign to "Fix the Debt." They say they want to reduce deficits and call for more revenue (but not higher top-tax rates) and cuts in Medicare, Social Security and Medicaid. But they are also lobbying in the back rooms to slip in a new tax break for multinationals that would exempt all profits reported abroad from U.S. taxes. This would be a multibillion-dollar bonanza for companies, encouraging them to move jobs or report profits abroad. It is a simple outrage that at the same time they are asking the most vulnerable seniors to "share in the sacrifice," they are angling to get the biggest companies in the world another tax loophole.

Anti-Black attitudes are increasing. Fifty-one percent of all Americans, an increase of 3% over four years, now express such attitudes, according to a recent Associated Press poll. So why has the U.S. Supreme Court agreed to challenge the Voting Rights Act of 1965? The case from Shelby County, Alabama questions whether Congress exceeded its authority when it voted in 2006 to renew Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act.

Voting rights are not guaranteed under the U.S. Constitution-that right is granted to the states. However, the Shelby case does not contest the constitutionality of the voting law itself, which makes it illegal to enforce any voting procedure or election law that discriminates against voters because of their race. Section 5 requires jurisdictions found to have prior voting right violations to be pre-approved by the U.S. Attorney General or the U.S. District Court in Washington, DC before making changes in election laws or rules.

The Shelby case, along with a case challenging college affirmative action at the University of Texas, makes this year's Supreme Court term momentous for civil rights. The common theme in both cases is whether a 1960s era remedy for racial discrimination is still needed-and justified today. The court's conservative justices have made it clear they are troubled by Section 5, which puts the South under special scrutiny. Section 5's pre-review requirement currently applies not only to Alabama, but the states of Alaska, Arizona, Georgia, Virginia, South Dakota and Texas. Reportedly, it also covers certain counties in California, Florida, New York, North Carolina, Michigan and New Hampshire.

(In the 2008 presidential election, the African American Voter Registration, Education and Participation Project (AAVREPP) found discrimination and voting irregularities even in polling places in South Central Los Angeles. This year, AAVREPP again launched a successful get-out-the-vote (GOTV) campaign that contributed to the large voter turnout in that area.)

In its petition, Shelby County argues that Section 5's pre-clearance requirement violates the 10th Amendment and Article IV of the U.S. Constitution. Both provisions grant states the power to regulate elections. In passing the law (Section 5), Congress relied on the 15th Amendment which prohibits states from denying a citizen the right to vote based on race, color or previous condition of servitude, such as slavery.

The Shelby County petition also claims, -and three years ago Chief Justice John C. Roberts agreed-"Things have changed in the south." The petition argues, "Voter turnout and registration now approach parity....blatant discrimination, evasions of federal decrees are rare, and minority candidates hold office at unprecedented levels." It further charges that the federal government is still relying on data more than 35-years old that fail to account for current political conditions.

George E. Curry, National Newspaper Publishers Association (NNPA), Editor-in-Chief, comments, "Surprisingly, the National Black Chamber of Commerce, which describes itself as, "a non-profit, non-partisan organization dedicated to the economic empowerment of African American communities through entrepreneurship," filed a friend-of-the-court brief supporting Shelby County's position opposing continued oversight under the Voting Rights Act. In doing so, the Black Chamber aligned itself with right-wing anti-affirmative groups, who also filed friend-of-the-court briefs with the Supreme Court opposing affirmative action in the University of Texas case.

The Black Chamber's campaign brief declared, "....Section 5 is no longer necessary to combat widespread and persistent discrimination in voting and now, perversely serves as an impediment to racial neutrality in voting and the empowerment of state and local officials who represent minority constituents." Like its right-wing cohorts, the Chamber too, "rejects the assumption underlying Congress's reauthorization of Section 5 that the exceptional circumstances which justify close federal oversight of electoral practices of many states and locations in 1965 and 1975 persist today. They do not."

This kind of post-racial rationalization bolsters the Tea Party and its wrongheaded allies throughout the country who, do not publicly proclaim, but apparently ardently believe that Blacks and other people of color, no longer have a right to complain because they now enjoy access, continuing largesse and the same benefits accorded white Americans. (If you believe this, please contact me about purchasing a few snow-capped mountains in Florida.)

Before reauthorizing the Voting Rights Act in 2006, Congress considered arguments of opponents who, like Shelby County, argued that there is no longer a need for continued federal oversight of select jurisdictions. The Justice Department quoted findings by Congress that while blatant voter discrimination had been reduced, vestiges of discrimination in voting continue to exist as demonstrated by second (and now third) generation barriers constructed to prevent minority voters from fairly participating in the electoral process. (The prolonged and unprecedented attacks on President Obama and undisguised voter suppression efforts leading up to this year's presidential election leave no doubt as to the broad-based appeal of these obscene tactics.)

Since 1982, there were approximately 800 court rulings favorable to voters of color, according to friend-of-the-court briefs by civil rights organizations, including the NAACP, Legal Defense and Educational Fund and the American Civil Liberties Union. Approximately 81% of these rulings were brought against Section 5-covered jurisdictions!

Most Blacks strongly support the need for Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act because they experience continuing race-based discrimination in their everyday lives.

New BBQ catering service will be showcasing their ‘Texas Style BBQ” at this year’s Taste of Soul.

If there is one dish that is always on hand at ‘Taste of Soul,’ it’s…barbeque. The grills are firing away from the beginning to the end of the festival. Come out and try a new booth this year at Our Place BBQ & Soul Food (OPBSF)!

The family-owned catering service based in Canyon Country, CA specializes in “Texas Style BBQ.” They’re known for their award-winning ribs, brisket, BBQ chicken and their BBQ sauce. They also offer a host of side dishes along with their meals.

This will be OPBSF first Taste of Soul and they are looking forward to sharing their food with the customers. Make sure you visit Our Place BBQ & Soul Food booth at Taste of Soul 2012!

For more information on this vendor, please visit their website at www.ourplacebarbque.com/.

Second Baptist Church of Los Angeles will celebrate the 25th Pastoral Anniversary of the Rev. Dr. William and First Lady Agretta Epps on Sunday, October 14, at the 8 a.m. and 11:15 a.m. worship services.

The services will be held in the edifice located at 2412 Griffith Avenue in the historic Central Avenue corridor.Following the 11:15 a.m. service, a reception will be held in Griffith Hall.

The anniversary theme, “Render Honor to Whom Honor is Due” (Romans 13:7) allows for the congregation and community- at- large to extend good wishes and appreciation to the Pastor and First Lady.

Dr. and Mrs. Epps along with daughters, Dr. Jacqueline Epps Spivey (Anton Spivey) and Andrea Epps, Esq.,joined Second Baptist in October 1987. Previously, he headed Second Baptist Church in Detroit, MI; First Baptist Church in Winston-Salem, NC; and Calvary Baptist Church in Haverhill, MA.

According to one member, “Mrs. Epps, a registered nurse, is very involved and a long-time member of Second’s Hand Bell Choir and Children’s Ministry. She is known as ‘the encourager’ and a supporter of all ministries.”

Dr. Epps is nationally known as an outstanding teacher and prolific preacher. He led the congregation in raising funds to preserve, restore and modernize its current sanctuary, which was built in 1926. Second Baptist was placed on the U.S. Department of the Interior’s National Register of Historic Places in 2009.

Under his leadership, the church conducts extensive outreach program to the community through its Children’s Center and Johnnie L. Cochran Jr.Early Learning Center, recycling program and community relations support for AIDS patients at the MLK Oasis Center.

Dr. Epps serves as vice president of the United States in the Baptist World Alliance and is affiliated with the American Baptist Churches, USA; the Progressive National Baptist Convention, Inc.; and the National Baptist Convention, USA, Inc.

Also, the church annually observes Homecoming Sunday and world-wide communion on the first Sunday in October. This year, the service is set for Sunday, October 7, at 2:30 p.m.

The public is invited to participate in World Wide Communion and the 25th Anniversary services. For information, call (213) 748-0318.